At the Edges

We have just gone through, I think, the edge of winter and spring here.  A few days ago, we had a light frost.  Shortly thereafter, the high temperature was 79 degrees, falling to 37 degrees at night.  I think we have moved off the edge of winter and spring, and we plan to plant tomatoes out tomorrow.  The weather is wonderful.  Going through the mild anxiety of deciding when it is safe to plant is a minor thing to gardeners like us, but it can be a big thing to farmers.  Some California tomato farmers apparently lost their bet with the weather this year when the frost hit.  There are rumors that tomato prices will be high this year.

"Living on the edge" may connote excitement to some people.  And sometimes the anxiety produced by potential threats or danger (manufactured danger, in the case of "extreme sports", etc.) may prompt one to take positive or daring actions one would not otherwise take.  But today, I was again reminded of the people who live at the edges of society in a way that does not connote striving for achievement, other than the achievement of surviving another day.

We went to Fresno, and saw several people advertising for handouts at the side of the road.  Most of the signs said that the people holding them were veterans.  I think this is, in many cases, not true.  But in some cases, it is true.  We passed by all of these people.  I had heard one person like this bragging on a local radio talk show about all the money he made in this manner.  It's hard sometimes to tell where genuine needs are.

But on the way home, we stopped in Selma to go to the supermarket.  As we passed an empty building which was once a drug store, David noticed a woman standing in the cart return area, under a wide overhang.  Somehow, he knew that this was a person with a real need.

He handed me a wad of small bills to give to her (no wanting to scare her by the approach of a man).  She came away from the wall to meet me as I approached her.  It was clear from some hygiene problems  that this was a person who was avoiding situations where she would be around other people.

I asked if she needed some cash.  She said yes.  She thumbed through the bills, and then quietly asked if I needed a dollar back.  She thought that we had given her all the money we had.  Though we have had some worries about money lately, her offer to give back part of the little we had given her put things in a different perspective.

David wanted to take her home, because he thought she needed someone to take care of her and get into a better situation.  But that sort of thing is a legal impossibility in this day and age.  We tried years ago to find a similar way to help young man who was in a worse condition that this woman.  Our governmental and legal institutions limit acts of good will by private citizens.

David went back to talk with her, and she said that she would be moving back to a motel when her check came.  We pray that it won't be too long.